Nolabjj Uptown

Small and basic mma gym with no frills but hard working and humble students. Came in here while visiting for a few days and they welcomed me with open arms. The coach was amazing as well and I actually got to roll with him. Btw I was doing to No Gi BJJ class on Friday at 10am. Again, can’t say enough of the professionalism as well as the warm welcome from everyone there. It’s a great workout session and coach allows you to ask questions and go over techniques as well as go over areas where you feel you need more work on and provide you drilling. Thanks guys, I know when I visit again I have a temporary home!

When this bakery changed owners I was so disappointed with the quiche that I wrote an poor review. I returned shortly and tried again. It is now the best in town! This morning I saw they added salmon quiche. Kudos to the chef!

I stopped in for a couple of days while there on a work trip. I was able to make it to a no-​gi class and a wrestling class. Both were alot of fun. The guys were great. Rolling session was awesome. Long rounds at a good pace.
As someone else mentioned, sometimes being a girl at an mma gym can end up giving you some weird vibes, but that wasn’t at all the case here. Everyone was really friendly and comfortable.
My scheduled didn’t line up with classes with the head instructor but you can tell from how his guys talk about him that he must be amazing. They obviously greatly respected him.
Definitely would go back if back in New Orleans and would train there regularly if I lived there.

It kills me to not to give this place a 5-​star review, but I got smacked with an injury at this location, and this month marked month 6 of going to physical therapy to build around it. To be 100% fair: these are combat sports. Come out and play and you’re risking getting injured. I own that. That said, I came in to what was obviously a very solid school run juuuust lax enough that night that something avoidable happened. I’m 110lbs and 5’1″ and came into NOLA BJJ while in town from NYC to stay warm for upcoming NAGA tournaments in my home state. I took a no gi class.
The instructor was great – concise, knowledgeable, confident, athletic. My home academies are Brazilian and Israeli-​run, so I’m used to loose and funky bjj in broken English or militant, precision takedown tech. NOLA BJJ that night was Sambo heavy, careful work on Russian spins and reversals. I was digging it and getting solid personal attention during corrections from the instructor. The only other girl in class was about 5’7″ and 150lbs, and inevitably we were paired up. I let her know I was a 8-​month (ish) white belt, turned out she was too. Cut to rolling, where we’re in theory supposed to be working in back takes and the spins, and first move is I get picked up and muscled into the mats like a child’s toy, face down mat up – nothing new, Im the nerf football of grappling and easy to throw around, even my training partners at home full time lose their awareness sometimes and toss me like a grape, but we’re talking going pretty hard on a visiting student with a 40lb weight difference. I know this girl’s a muscler now, so I play some better defense. She pulls guard and slides all the way down into an ankle lock.
And she slams that ankle lock like its the finals at PanAm’s – no eye contact, no gradual pressure, just SLAM… and I feel the dreaded pop in that ankle. I know it’s controversial as a subject, but at the academies I’ve attended white AND blue belts and first-​timers are NOT supposed to throw ankle locks or heel hooks at all, unless actively training with a sparring partner on the competition team. There’s nothing more dangerous than a white belt with a little knowledge about a dangerous attack. It took exactly 40 minutes at NOLA BJJ for me to get my Achilles partially torn during what seemed like «don’t go all out» light sparring. AND would have tapped in full submission to this girl, I just didn’t have time. NO EGO, you win!
I felt the POP of the tendon, but actually fine okay in a few minutes and returned to rolling. At that point it was switch partners time, but the instructor let all the guys trade while she and I were to continue together. I asked her to watch the ankle and roll for technique, which turned into over-​unders and me getting face muscle-​mashed into the floor again. I was BUMMED. I wanted to roll so bad in NOLA! And roll with these lighter, clearly high levels guys at the school. Instead I only rolled with the one female, in a not helpful way, and that actually ended when the instructor approached us and explained to her she could be picking off gorgeous high-C’s and firemans and ogoshi on someone my weight, but was muscle-​slamming me instead, and why that was a waste of training time. Afterwards she apologized, but at that point my ankle was blowing up past my spats and NAGA was clearly not happening in the near future.
NOLA BJJ obviously has a great foundation in grappling and wrestling and clean, no BS teaching style, and now that I’m moving to NOLA I WANT to recommend it as well as go back and roll more, but don’t feel safe doing so. Torn ACL not worth it. If you’re a more advanced belt, or even novice, make sure you voice what you’re okay with re: heel hooks/​leg locks, etc. These are such avoidable injuries during competition season that it’s not worth it to feel dominant over a foot for a minute in a free roll with a stranger. Props to the instructor for eventually noticing I was mismatched and making it a teachable moment for his student, who needed to learn «light ass girls = throws and takedowns,» not joint murder.
Now what am I going to do about my legs CHARLIE MURPHY?!

I don’t go here regularly but I’ve dropped by to roll quite a few times since 2006.
It’s exactly what I would expect from a bjj gym in Nola. It’s like a pop-​up in the back of a gym. There are exposed brick walls and some other characteristics you expect to find in these old buildings. It’s next to a bar. The students are all friendly and many of them are interesting characters with crazy patches or mismatched neon color rash guards. One guy had a patch on his gi of Johnny Cash flipping the bird, which is the best possible patch if you ask me. I’m surprised there isn’t a bar in the back of the gym or a brass band playing while we spar.
Professor Matthias is an excellent teacher. I’d also imagine he’d be a great coach ringside as he is always very good at identifying opportunities for attack when we spar. He’s also a really down to earth guy with some good stories.
I wish I had the time to do bjj seriously again. It’s frustrating to know that your skills are devolving while the bjj game keeps changing and evolving, but I guess that’s just what happens when you get old. If I did have the time and inclination I would be proud to be a member here. You should check it out.

I was in New Orleans on vacation and needed to get my No-​Gi fix, so I decided to check this gym out.
Being a girl, I have experienced some not so friendly training partners who have a thing about rolling with girls. This was not the case here. Everyone there was super nice, and I was glad to see another girl in the class!
The instructor was super technical and thorough. He went over the technique in detail and then gave us plenty of drill time. After technique, he reviewed what he covered before it was time to roll. After a few rounds, he summarized the technique again, which I thought was awesome; repetition really helps new technique stick!
What I loved the most was that before he dismissed class, he went around and asked everyone if they had any questions. He answered everyone’s questions with patience, and did not rush, although it seemed another class was getting ready to start using the mats.
Overall, I had a great time here and I will definitely check them out again whenever I go back and visit.

I don’t believe I haven’t reviewed NolaBjj before. I’ve been a member for 4 years. This place has been life changing for me. It hasn’t just been a gym, it’s been another family for me. That’s the kind of atmosphere Professor Matthias (a world champion btw) builds. If you have any inkling of interest in bjj, mma, or grappling this should be your first stop. This is one of the top bjj schools in the south, hands down.
They offer adult and kids classes. Both Men and Women are welcome. Beginners classes are Tuesday and Thursday night. See you there.

This is the best grappling that you are going to find in the greater New Orleans area. The head instructor is a world champion black belt. All the night classes are filled with upper belts. The morning classes are more laid back and relaxed.
Every time I walk in, the atmosphere is great. All the students and instructors are friendly and helpful. I’ve never felt at risk here. Safety is emphasized and mutual respect and courtesy is always given.
Parking is on the street. There is a gym in the front of the building, which BJJ students don’t use (unless they are also members of the gym). They have a bike rack out front. There is a shower and bathroom so you can change there. They have two water fountains. The mats are Zebra…
I have nothing bad to say. They also have kickboxing and SAMBO classes. Check it out.

this place is great for adult and kids, my son’s love this place and it has helped them become great yound
gives them something positive to look foward to.